Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) judgments, 2013

Where disclosure of a technical investigative method would seriously prejudice crime prevention or detection, a court may permit a limited departure from full…

A substantial delay in prosecution does not require a stay unless it has caused irremediable prejudice such that a fair trial is no longer possible. The court…

Section 3(1) of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 creates a strict-liability offence, but not one of absolute liability. The prosecution must prove an act or…

An accident-reconstruction expert may give an opinion on which vehicle initiated a collision where the opinion has a factual foundation, including physical…

A judge may withdraw a defence of duress from the jury only where, taking the defendant’s proposed evidence at its highest, it could not amount in law to that…

In appeals against sentence for organised street supply of Class A drugs, the Court of Appeal will not interfere unless the sentence is manifestly excessive. A…

A notice abandoning a criminal appeal is irrevocable unless the Court of Appeal treats it as a nullity. The decisive question is whether the appellant’s mind…

A question about assistance given to a complainant in connection with a termination of pregnancy is not, without more, a question about her sexual behaviour.…

A trial judge must fairly and clearly identify the issues for the jury. A lengthy, unedited recitation of evidence, coupled with emotive presentation of one…

Material used in open court should ordinarily be available under the principle of open justice. A court must assess the material’s value for effective…

Where Parliament has expressly preserved the common-law offence of cheating the public revenue, with its penalty at large, it remains available for the small…

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 does not render prison telephone recordings unlawful merely because the prison PIN system records calls under a…

Balloting jurors by number rather than name does not of itself render a criminal trial unfair where the defendant’s right of challenge is preserved and the…

Where serious violence is directly caused by a treatable mental disorder, and no significant risk of serious offending would remain if that disorder were cured…

The oath requirement in section 2(3) of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 applies only where criminal proceedings were in fact commenced by an information.…

A six-month limit under Magistrates' Court Act 1980, section 127, applies to informations and complaints tried in a Magistrates’ Court. It does not govern a…

Under section 22 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, a court reconsidering the available amount retains a broad statutory discretion to substitute an amount…

A sentencing judge should not give an advance indication of sentence based on alternative findings at a Newton hearing. Such an indication may pressure an…

An uncomfortable interaction between a juror and a person associated with a case does not, without more, establish apparent bias or make a conviction unsafe.…

Police-interview evidence from an accused found unfit to plead should ordinarily be admitted only if expert evidence establishes that, despite the finding of…

For an offence of assisting the supply of Class A drugs contrary to section 46 of the Serious Crime Act 2007, sentence should generally reflect the anticipated…

A defendant seeking to rely on diminished responsibility must adduce evidence capable of proving every requirement in section 2 of the Homicide Act 1957, on…

Criminal Justice Act 1988 section 40 is a procedural provision governing the inclusion of a summary offence in an indictment. Where the counts were properly…

Where an application for an extension of time and leave to appeal is wholly unarguable, the Court of Appeal may exercise its power under Criminal Appeal Act…

An appellant alleging inconsistent verdicts must show both a logical inconsistency and that no legitimate chain of reasoning could reconcile the jury’s…

Under section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906, the prosecution need prove that a payment or consideration for a prohibited purpose was made or…

Where a defendant makes a serious and forensic attack on another person’s character, including an imputation that the person committed the offence, evidence of…

An offence under section 328(1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 requires an arrangement which facilitates dealings with property that was already criminal…

Severance in a joint criminal trial is exceptional. The trial judge must exercise a discretion that balances the public interest in a joint trial against any…

A breach of an authorisation for covert surveillance, and the resulting interference with Article 8 privacy rights, does not of itself require exclusion of…

In a joint-enterprise murder, a secondary party must participate in the common enterprise and foresee that another participant may act with the intention to…

A jury bailiff must not answer a jury’s substantive request for judicial guidance or intervene in deliberations. Apart from administrative matters and the…

For a repeat domestic burglary, the sentencing court should begin with the applicable burglary guideline before considering the statutory minimum sentence.…

A defence of duress is unavailable where a defendant could reasonably have taken evasive action, including seeking police assistance. If threatened retribution…

Documents containing an alleged false alibi are not hearsay when tendered to prove that the alibi was advanced, rather than that its contents were true. Any…

Evidence of prior domestic violence may properly provide relevant relationship background where the defence asserts that the parties’ relationship was…

Consent to sexual activity requires agreement by choice, with freedom and capacity to make that choice. Alcohol consumption does not itself remove capacity or…

Recognition evidence is not necessarily unfair merely because an officer knew of other inculpatory evidence before viewing images, or because there were…

The interests-of-justice gateway in section 114(1)(d) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 cannot be used to admit hearsay evidence when the statutory conditions…

Under Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, evidence about a complainant’s sexual history must concern a genuine relevant issue and cannot be…

A jury’s failure to agree is not itself a verdict and cannot, in the strict sense, be inconsistent with a conviction. Nevertheless, an appellate court may…

A magistrates’ court has no jurisdiction to try a fresh information for a summary offence laid after the six-month limit in section 127 of the Magistrates'…

Under section 100(1)(b) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, non-defendant bad-character evidence is admissible only where it has substantial probative value on a…

A defendant who deliberately absents himself from trial may forfeit procedural advantages that attendance would have secured. However, the court retains a…

An offence of possessing an article for use in connection with fraud under Fraud Act 2006, section 6(1), requires possession with an intention that the article…

Where co-principal conspirators have jointly obtained property, each has obtained the whole benefit for confiscation purposes. Under the Proceeds of Crime Act…

For the second limb of fraudulent trading under Companies Act 1985, section 458, a fraudulent purpose need not involve an intention to deceive, or actual…

An error in an indictment’s statement of offence will not make the proceedings a nullity merely because it identifies a repealed statutory provision. The…

Under the former Criminal Justice Act 2003 regime, a direction crediting remand time was made only under section 240(3). Section 240(4) restricted that…

Suppression of Terrorism Act 1978, section 4 does not create a separate statutory offence of murder. It extends the territorial reach of the existing…

An out-of-court statement is not a mixed statement merely because it contains admissions. Its inculpatory elements must be significant to the prosecution case…

Previous domestic strangulations may be admissible as bad-character evidence where they are capable of showing a propensity relevant to whether the accused…

Evidence of previous rape convictions may be admitted under section 101(1)(d) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 where it is relevant to propensity on a live…

On a Crown appeal from a terminating ruling, the Court of Appeal may reverse the ruling under section 67 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 where it was not…

A sentencing court must follow a relevant Definitive Guideline under section 125(1) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, unless doing so would be contrary to…

For section 119 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, an earlier account is not a previous inconsistent statement merely because it omits a fact later mentioned.…

A criminal court should make an order for prosecution costs only where it is satisfied that the defendant has both the means and the ability to pay. Such an…

A direction encouraging discussion, argument or give and take must not cause jurors to compromise their oaths. A Watson direction should not normally be given…

Bad-character evidence is inadmissible unless it has legitimate probative value on a statutory gateway. A conviction for what was, on the available material…

A concluded ruling of the Court of Appeal cannot ordinarily be reopened by a later constitution merely because a subsequent decision is said to have changed…

A mandatory victim surcharge may be imposed only where every offence for which sentence is passed was committed after 1 October 2012. If any offence pre-dated…

In self-defence, the jury must determine what occurred and, where necessary, what the defendant honestly believed. A condition such as PTSD may be relevant to…

Article 32(8) of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 does not create a separate offence of consent, connivance or neglect by a company director. It…

Where an offence requires proof of a specific intent, the trial judge must consider whether a realistically available lesser alternative should be left to the…

Where the evidence permits, the prosecution may advance criminal liability as principal or accessory in the alternative. It must state the real nature of the…

A jury direction that a defendant’s evidence must be approached fairly is not, in itself, a legal direction whose omission necessarily amounts to a…

In self-defence, the reasonableness of force is assessed in the circumstances as the defendant genuinely believed them to be. A genuine mistaken belief may…

An adverse inference from a defendant’s silence in police interview may be left to the jury only where the only reasonable explanation for that silence is that…

An offence under section 1 of the Indecency with Children Act 1960 requires a grossly indecent act involving a child. The jury must decide whether right-minded…

Sexual-offence legislation protecting children under 16 must be applied so that a child’s apparent encouragement of sexual activity is not mitigation. It…

Where a defendant chooses to adduce previous convictions under gateway (b) of section 101(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the jury may consider their…

Previous convictions may aggravate sentence and deterrence may justify a sentence outside applicable guidelines. However, the resulting sentence must retain a…

For a third domestic burglary subject to section 111 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, the statutory minimum is a cross-check, not the…

An identification procedure under Code D is required only where a witness expresses an ability to identify the suspect or there is a reasonable chance that the…

A conviction is not unsafe merely because defence counsel has behaved improperly or conducted the case incompetently. The appellate question is whether…

For an offence under section 25 of the Immigration Act 1971, immigration law controlling entitlement to be in the State includes the statutory controls…

A criminal trial may begin in the accused’s absence only after the court has exercised the utmost care and caution. It must first determine whether the accused…

Where a defendant’s own failures to answer bail and surrender to custody have disrupted the ordinary criminal timetable and substantially delayed proceedings…

A burglary may constitute the dangerous unlawful act required for manslaughter where its planned circumstances, including a foreseeable intervention and…

A change of circumstances for the offence under section 111A(1A) is determined by the statutory conditions of entitlement. It does not require proof that a…

A stay for delay in prosecuting historic offences is exceptional. It is justified only where delay has caused prejudice which the trial process cannot fairly…

In sentencing a participant in a serious “crash for cash” fraud, the court may take account of the prevalence of that offending and the need for deterrence. A…

An appellate court may exceptionally adjourn a late application for leave to appeal against sentence where a trial advocate is willing to act pro bono and…

Sentencing for serious computer-misuse offending must reflect the statutory purposes of punishment, deterrence and public protection, and the offender’s…

Sentence for a deliberate breach of an anti-social behaviour order is not determined solely by the penalty available for the underlying conduct. Although the…

In a joint-enterprise murder prosecution, the Crown must adduce evidence capable of establishing that the defendants acted together at the fatal attack. Where…

An appeal against sentence must be determined by reference to the offender’s condition at the time of sentence. A later mental illness does not, without proof…

A previous complaint admitted under Criminal Justice Act 2003, section 120 is evidence of its truth if the statutory conditions are met. A jury should…

In a multi-count indictment, admissible evidence relating to one count may be used when deciding another count where it is relevant, even though the jury has…

Bad-character evidence under section 101(1)(d) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 must be directed to a legitimate and identified matter in issue. A propensity…

A refugee charged with a false-identity-document offence may rely on the defence in section 31 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 if the statutory…

In confiscation proceedings for mortgage fraud, the benefit calculation must avoid a disproportionate interference with property where value obtained by fraud…

On a reference under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, the court must assess whether the total sentence adequately reflects the cumulative…

An intermediary may explain questions and answers as necessary to enable a vulnerable witness and the court to understand each other. Intervention to secure…

In confiscation proceedings, a company’s separate personality does not prevent the court from identifying an offender’s true benefit where the offender solely…

Fresh evidence said to support a defence of duress should not be received on appeal unless it is capable of belief and provides a proper basis for advancing a…

For the purposes of the Child Abduction Act 1984, detaining a child includes inducing the child to remain with the defendant. The child’s willing consent does…

A confiscation challenge founded on oppression must be determined as a question of proportionality under Article 1 of Protocol 1, rather than abuse of process.…

A defendant with a criminal lifestyle is assessed for benefit from general criminal conduct, which includes the particular criminal conduct of conviction.…

A change in the law does not of itself justify extending time to appeal. The court must respect finality, but may extend time where refusal would cause…

For money-laundering offences, undeclared business turnover may be criminal property even though the benefit obtained by cheating the Revenue is the unpaid…

A person who evades an excise-duty liability to which he is personally subject obtains a pecuniary advantage for confiscation purposes. A person may hold…

Wilful neglect under section 44(2) of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 requires a subjective mental element. It is not established merely by a breach of duty…

The abuse-of-process jurisdiction protects defendants from unfairness and oppression, rather than providing an automatic remedy for every prosecutorial error.…

Improper joinder of a count under section 40 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 or the corresponding indictment rule invalidates the improperly joined count…

For murder, the jury must be sure that the defendant intended to cause really serious harm. Awareness that such harm could result is insufficient. Where the…

A secondary party may participate in a joint enterprise by encouragement as well as by physical assistance. There is no principled distinction between those…

The common-law offence of perverting the course of public justice requires an act or course of conduct which has a tendency, and is intended, to pervert…

On an Attorney-General reference for an unduly lenient sentence, an appellate court should not increase sentence by confidently resolving disputed sentencing…

Section 46 of the Serious Crime Act 2007 creates a distinct offence of encouraging or assisting one or more offences. It applies where a defendant believes…

A breach of Code D caused by failing to disclose a witness’s initial description before an identification parade does not automatically require exclusion of…

In confiscation proceedings, benefit ordinarily comprises the gross value of property obtained as a result of or in connection with criminal conduct. It is not…

In a prosecution brought after substantial delay, the jury direction must be tailored to the real issues at trial. It should identify any material disadvantage…

A criminal judge must put the defence case fairly and sufficiently. Where an unrepresented defence is contained in a police interview, the judge should make a…

Where the prosecution case depends solely on DNA found on an item left at the scene, a highly compelling match probability does not by itself provide a…

The statutory power to substitute a guilty plea to another offence is a limited exception to the rule that conviction follows a defendant’s own plea or proof…

A sentencing court must apply the sentencing regime in force when the offender was convicted. It must not anticipate later provisions before they come into…

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, section 2(7), extends the course of transmission of a communication to any period during which the transmitting…

A trial judge must leave self-defence to the jury where there is evidence which, if accepted, raises a prima facie case. That obligation can arise although the…

Section 39(1) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 protects only a child or young person who is concerned in proceedings in one of the statutory…

Where hearsay evidence is central to proving guilt, the court must assess its reliability cumulatively. It must consider the evidence’s importance, any…

Under section 74 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, consent requires agreement by choice with freedom and capacity to choose. The conclusive presumptions in…

A trial judge should not obtain and read closed material unilaterally when determining disclosure or abuse-of-process applications. In an unusual case, the…

On a submission of no case to answer, the court must apply the traditional Galbraith test: taking the prosecution case at its highest, could a reasonable jury…

In a case resting substantially on circumstantial evidence, the jury must receive structured guidance on the evidence relied on, the defence case, permissible…

A conviction appeal based on a defendant’s alleged inability to decide whether to testify will fail where the evidence does not show that distress, medication…

A court must protect a trafficked defendant by staying proceedings for abuse of process where the alleged offending was compelled by, and integral to, that…

Credit for time spent on remand in custody is administratively applied under section 240ZA of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. By contrast, credit for qualifying…

For the completed offence under Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, section 51(1) requires proof that the intended victim was in fact intimidated.…

Evidence of a witness’s particular disposition may be admissible where it is relevant to a live issue, including an allegation that a complainant was the…

Where an offender was under 18 when offending but is sentenced after turning 18, the court must give proper regard to the sentence that would have been…

A court may not direct a new prison term to begin only when an earlier sentence, from which the offender has been released, expires. A recall for breach of…

Where a sentencing judge has not identified a numerical starting point, an appellate court will not infer one merely from a sentencing guideline or a…

When sentencing an offender aged 15 to 17, the court must assess maturity as well as chronological age. The youth sentencing guideline permits a starting point…

A sentencing judge may differentiate between co-offenders where cogent features of their respective conduct and responsibility justify it. An appellate court…

A sentencing judge may take account of evidence forming part of a separate count on which the defendant was acquitted, provided that the evidence is proved to…

Sentencing is ordinarily an evaluative exercise, not an arithmetical one. A stated assurance of a precise level of credit for a guilty plea may, however…

A court imposing a community order with an accredited programme requirement must itself specify that the defendant is required to participate. It cannot…

In a novel sentencing exercise without a useful tariff or directly analogous authority, the court must stand back and assess culpability and harm in order to…

On an appeal against conviction, the court must apply the statutory unsafe-conviction test in the Criminal Appeal Act 1968, rather than any looser formulation…

A defendant cannot be criticised for failing to advance a defence in a private conversation, even where the conversation is monitored. However, statements made…

Where offences are sentenced after the offender has received a determinate sentence, but were committed before that earlier sentence was imposed, the court…

Where a defendant of good character faces an allegation of dishonesty, a proper good-character direction is an essential part of the summing-up. Its omission…

A restraining order following an acquittal under section 5A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 requires a proper factual basis for finding both that…

For a specimen count alleging repeated offending, a direction that the offence need have occurred only once is sufficient where no distinct incident can be…

A commercial practice under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 may arise from a single act directed at one consumer. It may occur…

A conviction is not rendered unsafe by a post-verdict allegation of jury misconduct unless the available material provides a sound basis for doubting the…

When sentencing for deliberate failure to surrender to bail, the court must assess why the defendant absconded and whether the conduct was intended to disrupt…

A defendant’s duty to identify alibi witnesses under section 6A(2)(a) of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 arises when the defendant believes…

A reporting direction under section 46 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 may prohibit publication of a witness’s image even though the…

A guideline confined to statutory fraud does not govern sentencing for conspiracy to defraud, but its underlying principles remain relevant. Seriousness…

Post-offence conduct may be admitted as bad-character evidence where it is capable of demonstrating a relevant character trait or propensity bearing on…

For murder committed by an offender under 18, the 12-year starting point in Schedule 21 remains subject to a fact-sensitive assessment of seriousness. Features…

Evidence suggesting criminal conduct other than that charged must be assessed separately for direct relevance and, where applicable, as propensity evidence. A…

Visual-identification evidence need not be withdrawn where the original observation was sufficiently good for a properly directed jury to assess it, despite…

A draft judgment supplied to counsel and solicitors before hand-down is subject to a strict confidentiality embargo. Its contents must not be disclosed outside…

A Crown Court may order a preparatory hearing only where the statutory threshold is truly met. Seriousness must be of the high degree required by section 29(1)…

A further criminal trial may be permanently stayed where, on a fact-sensitive and cumulative assessment, it would be oppressive and unjust. Relevant matters…

Logical inconsistency between verdicts does not make a conviction unsafe unless the only explanation may be jury confusion or a wrong approach. A jury may…

Lawful covert surveillance does not require a stay for abuse of process merely because limited legally privileged material is incidentally recorded. A stay is…

A Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 confiscation order must not be disproportionate under Article 1 of Protocol 1. Following R v Waya [2012] UKSC 51, double counting…

An adverse inference for pre-charge silence under section 34 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 depends on a defendant’s failure to mention a…

A verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity is an acquittal for the purpose of section 5A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. A restraining order…

Hearsay from a fearful witness need not be shown to be demonstrably reliable before admission. The court must assess the risk of unreliability, the means by…

The drug-offence sentencing guideline applies to a conspiracy to supply controlled drugs. It must be applied with common sense and flexibility, rather than as…

A conviction is unsafe where established jury intimidation and pressure pre-dated the verdict and caused the jury to be discharged before completing…

A victim surcharge order is an order made when dealing with an offender and therefore falls within the statutory meaning of a sentence. An unlawfully made…

A plea of autrefois acquit is confined to a later charge for the same offence in fact and in law. A formal dismissal following an unopposed reorganisation of…

Homicide Act 1957 section 2(2), which places on a defendant the legal burden of proving diminished responsibility on the balance of probabilities, is…

Where the prosecution relies on an inference that property derives from unspecified criminal conduct, a jury must decide the case on the evidence and legal…

Sentencing guidelines must be followed unless departure would be contrary to the interests of justice, but they are flexible enough to accommodate material…

Under Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the question whether circumstances are exceptional for a postponement beyond the permitted period is approached broadly and…

For evidence of a co-defendant’s bad character to be admitted under Criminal Justice Act 2003, section 101(1)(e), it must have substantial probative value.…

Under section 35(1)(b) of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, the question whether it is undesirable for an accused to give evidence is broad and…

In terrorism sentencing, comparative dangerousness must be assessed by the real progress of a planned attack and the risk it presents. Aspirational or boastful…

On a guilty plea, the admission is to the offence and not necessarily to every factual assertion advanced by the prosecution. The sentencing judge must…

For misconduct in public office, the question is whether the duties undertaken are public duties, not whether the employee occupies a narrowly defined or…

A conviction is unsafe where fresh material gives serious cause to doubt the reliability of police evidence that was critical to the verdict, particularly when…

Under section 3(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1967, the availability of reasonable force to prevent crime depends on the defendant’s honest belief as to the…

A trial judge may withdraw a statutory defence from the jury only where there is no evidence capable in law of supporting it. A defence must not be withdrawn…

A juror’s written complaint of prejudice, intimidation or other irregularity does not automatically require the jury’s discharge. The trial judge must give the…

A jury must decide independently whether an image is indecent. The COPINE scale is a therapeutic categorisation and is not a legal test of indecency in a…

In confiscation proceedings, the defendant bears the burden of showing that the available amount is less than the benefit. The court may infer hidden assets…

Counts described at trial as alternatives must be assessed by their legal ingredients. The rule against taking a verdict on a lesser alternative before…

Sentencing for forced or compulsory labour must reflect the deliberate exploitation of vulnerable people. The court should assess the deception or coercion…

Victim personal statements and family impact statements enable the sentencing court to assess the proved personal impact of offending. They are evidence, must…

A trial judge must leave the statutory loss-of-control defence to the jury where, on a commonsense assessment of all the evidence, a properly directed jury…

For a third-party costs order, negligence can amount to misconduct, but a single isolated administrative failure will not ordinarily be serious misconduct.…

A judge may continue a criminal trial in a defendant’s absence only by exercising the discretion with great caution and with close regard to the overall…

In confiscation proceedings arising from a conspiracy, a participant may jointly obtain the full value of the property concerned. That conclusion depends on…

Trade mark offences designated by Parliament as lifestyle offences attract the confiscation regime even where the offending was conducted through an otherwise…

For confiscation under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, property is obtained where the offender acquires legal ownership or a sufficient power of disposition or…

Where inadmissible and prejudicial material is inadvertently disclosed to a jury, the decisive question is whether the disclosure creates a real possibility…

For an appeal against a terminating ruling, a judge’s informal email to counsel does not constitute the formal ruling which triggers the requirement for the…

Under section 101(3) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, admissible bad-character evidence must be excluded only where its admission would so adversely affect…

A guilty plea must remain the defendant’s free and personal choice. Ordinary consequences of a criminal charge, and clear advice from defence lawyers about…

A police van owned and used solely by a constabulary is not a private vehicle for the purposes of Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. Covert recording…

For a mandatory life prisoner detained abroad before extradition, Criminal Justice Act 2003 section 269(3) requires the minimum term to reflect the direction…

A prior inconsistent statement proved under Criminal Procedure Act 1865 and admitted under section 119 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 is evidence of the…

For the purposes of the M’Naghten rules, a disease of the mind is a legal, rather than medical, classification. The direct and acute effects of voluntarily…

An unnecessary averment in a handling indictment that goods belonged to a specified person does not invalidate a conviction where it is immaterial and, on the…

For confiscation purposes, the value of a tainted gift is governed by the specific valuation regime in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. A tainted gift is not to…

Hearsay from a witness absent through fear may be admitted under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 only after careful scrutiny of its reliability and of the…

On an appeal founded on fresh psychiatric evidence, the Court of Appeal must itself decide whether the conviction is unsafe by assessing all the evidence. A…

In a murder trial, the prosecution must prove both that the defendant inflicted unlawful injury and that the injury was at least a substantial or significant…

A conviction for a single conspiracy requires proof that each convicted defendant shared a common unlawful purpose or design within the terms of the…

Where the relevant words of an export-control regulation have an ordinary and straightforward meaning, the judge need not decide the full factual effect of…

Under section 54(1)(c), read with section 54(3), of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, voluntary intoxication is excluded from the defendant’s circumstances…

Under Criminal Justice Act 2003, section 100 requires a fact-specific assessment of the substantial probative value and overall importance of a non-defendant’s…

An entrapment stay is concerned with preventing a serious misuse of state power, rather than excusing a defendant who has committed an offence. The decisive…

An indictment may be amended after a guilty plea under section 5(1) of the Indictments Act 1915. A trial is not complete merely because a plea has been…

Directions about silence, co-accused evidence and bad character must be tailored to the issues and evidence at trial. A jury should not treat earlier…

In joint-enterprise cases, mere presence is insufficient. Liability requires intentional encouragement or assistance and the requisite knowledge and intention…

A sentencing court should not investigate the adequacy of individual prison medical arrangements unless imprisonment itself will inevitably cause inhuman or…

Untested hearsay which is sole or decisive evidence does not automatically make a criminal trial unfair. Its admission requires a proper statutory basis and…

In a confiscation appeal, a defendant who asserts that assets are no longer available bears the burden under section 7 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. A…

Under section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, a belief in consent must be reasonable by objective standards. A belief induced by delusional psychotic…

Expert evidence on a low-template mixed DNA profile may be admissible without a random-match probability or a verbal hierarchy of support. The judge must be…

A breach of a restraint order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 is capable of amounting to perverting the course of justice even where the breach involves…

Evidence of a defendant’s earlier conduct may be admitted under section 101(1)(c) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 where it is important explanatory evidence…

A person relying on the refugee defence under section 31 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 must show a sufficient evidential basis for refugee status. A…

Under rule 14.2(3) of the Criminal Procedure Rules 2011, offences may properly be joined as a series of similar offences where there is a sufficient nexus…

A defendant who indicates a guilty plea through a locally approved early guilty plea scheme and pleads guilty at the first Crown Court appearance will…

Where a burglary count alleges that premises were a dwelling-house and that allegation is disputed, the issue must be determined by a jury on properly framed…

Under section 6(3) of the Criminal Law Act 1967, an alternative verdict is available only where the allegations of the offence charged include every ingredient…